


Up On The Housetop

by stargazerdaisy



Category: The Rookie (TV 2018)
Genre: But she will help him feel better, CW 2020, Chenford Week, Christmas Decorating, Christmas fic, Day 7, F/M, Free day, Lucy isn't going to let him get away with it, Tim is grumpy when he's worried about Lucy, and if she got carried away, we don't really need to focus on that
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-18
Updated: 2020-07-18
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:27:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,366
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25366072
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stargazerdaisy/pseuds/stargazerdaisy
Summary: “I thought we did all the decorating over the weekend,” he commented.“We did,” she answered.  “But today I was in court all day and it was so boring, I got a little carried away with the online shopping.  Did you know the hardware store does a 2 hour pickup option?”Tim comes home from work to find his house is decorated for Chritsmas a lot more than how he had left it that morning.  Whathashis girlfriend been up to?
Relationships: Tim Bradford/Lucy Chen
Comments: 10
Kudos: 65
Collections: Chenford Week 2020





	Up On The Housetop

A small tree and a string out white lights along the roof line had been the plan. They had discussed it and agreed to it. There had even been a plan to tackle it Saturday afternoon and they accomplished it beautifully. It turned out just how Tim had pictured it, simple, classic, and low maintenance. Enough to be special and celebratory, but nothing over the top. However, when he got home Monday evening, he was greeted by a very different scene. 

As he pulled into the driveway, things already looked different. There were paper snowflakes dangling in the windows and three-foot-tall candy canes lining the flower beds out front. The bushes along the side of the yard were covered in those net lights and there were a series of big red bows across the garage door. From the truck, he could see a huge green wreath on the front door (okay, that did look quite nice), and there were even a couple of light-up, wireframe reindeer in the yard. But none of that caught his attention the way that the sight of Lucy, teetering at the top of a ladder - _in a Santa hat_ \- attaching icicle lights to the gutters did. He marched over to her precarious position in the yard and grabbed the ladder, as if to steady it.

Feeling the ladder move under her, Lucy looked down. Her eyes lit up when she saw it was Tim. “Hi! How was work?” she greeted him.

“Get down from there,” he growled. 

A look of confusion crossed her face upon hearing his tone. “Yeah, okay, give me a second to get this last bit of the string up, then I’ll come give you a proper hello,” she said, figuring he’d just had a hard shift and could do with a little cheering up. Quickly, she snapped the last couple clips into the gutter and scampered down the ladder. 

“Welcome home,” she said, wrapping her arms around his waist and smiling up at him. 

Usually, Tim started shedding the hardass Officer Bradford side of his personality as soon as he got home, his rough edges smoothing out just by being near Lucy. But it wasn’t working tonight. The annoyed expression didn’t dissipate in the slightest and his eyes rolled in annoyance. 

“What’s wrong?” she asked, stepping back to better assess his mood. 

“Nothing,” he brushed her off. “What were you doing up there? That ladder was ready to tip over.”

Lucy laughed. “It was not. It was perfectly stable until someone came along and grabbed it under me.”

“I stabilized it,” he insisted. “The ground is really uneven. If you had leaned just a little too far, you would have hit the ground and probably broken your arm. That’s if you didn’t give yourself a concussion.”

Her smile was affectionate. “You know, you’re pretty cute when you’re worried.”

“Lucy, this is serious! It was way too dangerous.”

Now, she was really laughing. “Tim, we’re cops. We live every day in dangerous situations. Trust me, hanging up Christmas lights is one of the safest things I could be doing. And I swear, I was being very careful, not leaning to the side, making sure the ladder was firmly planted before I climbed up, and not going too high. Plus, I’m only like five feet up. At worst, I’d get a dumb looking bruise or scrape. And then you’d just get to tease me for it.”

He had to admit she had a point. The ranch style house had a low edge to the roof and the flower beds around it were much softer than concrete or even gravel. “With our luck, you’d end up getting beauty bark in your eardrums or something,” he grumbled, his bad mood finally beginning to crack. 

She giggled along with him. “I can only imagine what Grace would have to say if we showed up at the hospital like that. Good thing you’re here now to keep me safe.” Her teasing grin melted him the rest of the way. 

“What are you even doing?” he gestured around the yard. “I thought we did all the decorating over the weekend.”

“We did, but today I was in court all day and it was so boring, I got a little carried away with the online shopping. Did you know the hardware store does a 2 hour pickup option?” Her eyes lit up as she started describing how she’d spent the day. “Anyway, I thought it would be fun to add a little more to the outside. So I picked this stuff up on my way home, and got a jump on putting it up.”

“Did you leave anything at the store?” he asked, in disbelief.

“Shut up,” she laughed, knocking his shoulder. “I only bought a few things. You’ll notice there’s an entire _lack_ of inflatables out here. More’s the pity, I think, but I figured you would short circuit, so consider this a compromise.”

“It’s only a compromise if both people are aware and agree to it,” he reminded her. “I had no knowledge of any of this until just now. You know, you could have used that phone to text me.”

“Yeah, I could have.” Her smirk was maddening, but in the most adorable way. “Now, I don’t have much to finish out here, just a few more feet of lights. Why don’t you go inside and relax? There’s mulled wine in the crockpot - I’m experimenting for Angela’s party next weekend - and I know for a fact that there is a certain dog inside who has been waiting anxiously for your arrival. Not that I blame him. I’ve been looking forward to it myself. Anyway, get yourself a cup and settle down on the couch with that big lug for a bit.”

He couldn’t resist smiling at her. She really had thought of everything. Coming home had never been quite as warm as it had been the last few months since she moved in with him. When it was just him rattling around the house, home was a respite, but it was a little too easy for his ghosts to find him there. Bringing home Kojo had made it more inviting and comforting to return home at the end of a long day. But Lucy was truly what he’d been missing. She exuded warmth and love wherever she went, and when she was pouring that into his home, _their home_ , there was no better place in the world. 

Shedding the final vestiges of the hard shift, he leaned back into her, circling her with his arms, and kissing her soundly. “I still don’t know what I did to deserve you.”

“The greatest of mysteries,” she said with a wink, pushing up on her tiptoes to steal another kiss. “Now, go inside, I’ll be there in just a few minutes, I promise.”

He shook his head, chuckling softly once again, and took off for the living room. As she’d promised, Kojo came running right up and licked his hand. “Yeah, yeah, I’m glad to see you too,” Tim said, rubbing the dog’s head. “Let’s go settle down. Our girl will be in soon.”

Later that night, Lucy and Tim were snuggled up on the couch, cozy red blanket tucked around them and Kojo snoring at their feet. It was a scene straight out of one of those ridiculous Hallmark movies Angela was always rambling about. If he wasn’t so at peace, Tim would be snorting to himself about it all. The tree stood in the corner, lights twinkling and ornaments shining, while carols played through the speakers. There was even a fire burning in the fireplace and they each had a mug of the mulled wine (Lucy’s recipe experiment had been more than successful). Tim took in the moment, loving it for all its cliche joy and contentment. As he looked around the room, noticing each detail, something caught his eye.

Slowly turning to his girlfriend, he asked, “Lucy… Why is there an animatronic Santa Claus, wearing glasses and a Hawaiian shirt, where we normally keep the bookshelf?”

Her cheeks burned red and she looked at him sheepishly, “Yeah, so funny story about that.”

**Author's Note:**

> And we've reached the end of Chenford Week! I have had a BLAST writing all these stories and sharing them with you. Thank you everyone for reading, commenting, and leaving kudos!! <3 <3 <3


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